Build a Stronger Network: Have (More) Meaningful Conversations
With all the noise in marketing these days, the need for more meaningful conversations has become more important than ever. The rise in digital platforms has transformed how we communicate. Anyone can broadcast their thoughts to anyone at any time—even worse, everyone feels a need to. Feeling the pressure to reach customers and weed through […]
Outsource—Yes, Outsource Your Business Relationship Building
It’s no secret that the more successful your business, the more relationships you have. And after a certain point, it becomes very difficult to maintain these relationships. There aren’t enough hours in the day for you to stay in personal contact with hundreds or thousands of people. Fortunately, you can leverage advances in technology to […]
Amplify Effective Sales Process
The founder of a commercial building product manufacturer built a company that was successful for many years. However, operating as a single rainmaker, he had reached the limit of the accounts he could service, plateauing growth. Faced with a market opportunity and desire to continue to grow the business, he needed to add salespeople to […]
Relationships Crucial to Growth
Our client, a professional services firm with 25+ offices nationwide, developed a strategic growth plan with its primary lever being lateral acquisition of firms and solo practitioners with existing books of business. Successful execution needed an aligned definition of a qualified acquisition target, and the organizational capabilities and resources to support the Principals tasked with […]
Focused Lead Generation Drives Growth
Our client, a business-to-business solutions provider, relied on organic lead generation to grow the business. However, with plans to accelerate growth, this would not deliver the results. Several approaches were tried without the desired outcomes. First a SEO campaign was initiated to jump start leads; it was costly and generated unqualified inquiries which required the […]
Relationships Crucial to Expanding Market
The Founder & CEO of a rapidly growing creative design firm and her partner were the sole drivers of client acquisition for their company. This prevented them from being as present as they needed to be in the company’s operations. The firm hadn’t grown enough to justify hiring a full-time business development person—what they needed […]
Maximize Potential of High-Value Relationships
The area president of a national business services outsourcing firm was overseeing a rapidly growing division. His personal success, and by extension, the success of his company, hinged upon maintaining strong relationships with referrers, prospective clients, existing clients and the contracted consultants that served them. With an increasing number of consultants and clients under his […]
The Universe of Potential Relationships, Part 3: People You Can Build Rapport With
If real, authentic relationships are important to the success of your business, it’s invaluable to know exactly who you can build relationships with. In my book Clicksand, I share the idea of the Universe of Potential Relationships. You can only build relationships with people who meet three criteria: They are someone you want to have […]
Even More Ways Building Business Relationships Is like Playing Golf
When I was younger, I dreamed of being Douglas Adams, writer of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He is one of the most innovative and entertaining storytellers I’ve ever read and I relished his sense of humor. One of my all-time favorite Adams lines was from his 1992 book Mostly Harmless. It was the […]
The Universe of Potential Relationships, Part 1: People You Want to Meet
One concept I explore in Clicksand is the Universe of Potential Relationships. It is a concept we use a lot with our clients at Civilis Consulting. The idea is that for any new relationship to form between you and another person, three conditions must exist. First, the person must be the kind of individual you […]
